In the fight with Custer at the Little Big Horn, Chief Sitting Bull was primarily a medicine man who gave encouragement to the warriors. The fighting Chiefs, most notably, were Chief Gall, Crazy Horse and Red Cloud. After the victory over General Custer in June of 1876, Sitting Bull and several thousand Sioux fled to Canada. In 1881, most of the Sioux had returned to the U.S. to live on reservations and the Indian wars were considered to be concluded. Sitting Bull also returned, reluctantly, under an amnesty agreement with the U.S. Army. For a brief time in the 1880’s Sitting Bull traveled with the Buffalo Bill Cody Wild West Show as a celebrity attraction.
In 1890, Sitting Bull was accused of agitating trouble on the reservation and a squad of Indian police were sent to arrest him. As he was being escorted from his cabin to his pony a crowd of rebellious braves gathered and tried to block the police. Shots were fired on both sides and the police retreated to the cabin. However, Sitting Bull had been wounded. A 2 hour stand-off ensued with some shooting back and forth. Then, a cavalry detachment arrived and quieted the situation. By then, Sitting Bull had died from his wounds.
An poignant footnote to this incident: During the stand-off at the cabin, Sitting Bull’s pony was waiting nearby. It was a trained one he had in the Wild West Show. The shooting caused the pony to occasionally break into it’s little routine of show tricks.
ref:Crimsoned Prairie.... by S.L.A. Marshall
